San Jose Obon Odori

Since living in J-​town I’ve had the greatest opportunities to check out a wide array of community events, but none compare to the awesomeness of the San Jose Obon Festival. Located in the heart of Japantown, the Obon Festival takes place in the surrounding blocks around the massive Japanese temple on 5^th and Jackson. The best part about this event is that it is free for all to enter and has a great welcoming vibe. It was super cool seeing several people in traditional kimonos. Another really cool aspect were all of the mob traditional Japanese dances which encouraged everyone to join in on. There are a couple of alcohol tents where you can get your sake bomb on, which is always a plus. If dancing and drinking aren’t your thing then definitely hit up the food tents. Their teriyaki items were super delicious and really affordable. Overall, if you want to experience super cool traditions in the Japanese community then definitely check out the San Jose Obon Festival.

WAY smaller than the Mountain View location. Still fun in the hot sun nonetheless and FREE ENTRANCE.
According to the signs posted by the entrances, this festival is NOT DOG FRIENDLY, however we saw people with their dogs EVERYWHERE! So wth. Because of these signs, some of my friends did not go since they couldn’t bring their dogs. There were people even with Huskies! C’mon…it’s an OUTDOOR festival!
Moving on, small selection of drinks since they only have their beer/​wine license. I do like how they went around that and infused Wine with Margaritas… although I was unable to try it from day drinking too early that day. Next year for sure!

My first Obon Festival as relayed to me by a co-​worker of mine. Her daughter was a participant in the street dancing and brought their family with them so it’s a treat having to see a tradition like this happen in San Jose. Of all the festivals I have been too, this is the smallest one I have come across with. Never the less we had fun going around playing games for the kiddo (ring toss and lantern fishing) plus the lines of yummy gastrogoodness.
What I liked about this festival is the part that they want to take care of the people who wanted to go celebrate this tradition with them. They have shuttle cars that brings people to the festival from the civic center. They have first aid booth in front for people who needs assistance. They have flowers for sale and proceeds go to the temple. They have volunteers who man the booths and clean up when you eat at the mess hall. Little things that make an impact over all in the success of the event.
Other than the colorful kimonos and fans, the highlight for me was a dessert plate of strawberry short cake. It was divine with soft fluffy cake with perfect slices of the reddest strawberries, topped with that light whipped cream. IT WAS JUST PERFECT. The other food fare was good but somehow this dessert deserves laudation.
Coming back next year.

annual obon fest… fam alwaz go to diff ones, but i’ve nvr been… this sj one is usually on the 2^nd wknd of jul (til 10p sat & 8p sun)…the bigger mountain view one follows on the nxt wknd…
BKGD | obon is a japanese buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one’s ancestors… evolved into cultural festivals…
& fyi, sj japantown is 1 of the last 3 authentic jtowns in US…
THE FEEL | Buddhist Church’s block is closed… lanterns hang above, band playing, big mesh tent food area, plenty of high top tables… seating & more food inside the adjacent annex bldg (gym)…game booths area for kids to play, win japanese toys & stuffies… a few craft vendors, evening trad’l dance («Odori») parade, & more… neat how a lot of the ladies, of all ages, r dressed in kimonos…
if you’re thinkin’ of the annual sf cherry blossom fest, well, it’s very diff… more cultural… see some of my pix…
GRUB | fam’s:
— nigiri sushi | 5pc: salmon, tuna, saba, kani, & ebi | 7… i think 6pc cali rolls were 6.
— ramen | 5… decent & hot frm the kitch
— beef teriyaki skewer | 2… dry
— chix teriyaki, qtr… tasty
— tempura… no sauce?
other grub:
— imagawa yaki (red bean cakes) were all sold out, boo
— gyoza
— chix salad
— corn on the cob | 2.
— strawberry shortcake | 4.
— other stuff
DRINKS
— beers | kirin, gordon biersch | 7.
— wine margarita | 7.
— sake | 3 single & 5 dbl???
— iced mocha, slushes, pearl tea, bottled water, etc
GAME BOOTHS AREA | lots to play… even losers get some candy… consolation prize as big niece called it…
VENDORS | not many… plants, crafts such as yarn trivets ($ 1+), leis & bouquets…
PERFORMANCES | 6p sun, later on sat…4 rows of bleachers… casual parade-like…dance line slowly circles the middle of the street a couple of times in an hr… lots of participants… free lessons also avail b4hand…
there r taiko drum performances earlier in the day… drummers come frm all ovr, i heard…
OTHER | first aid tent, cops, free parking lot & shuttle service, free pedicab rides…
OVERALL | interesting, cultural event… pretty well organized… if for nuthin’ else, come for the street fair food, bring kids to play games, listen to the band, people watch, etc…& if you’re not shy, join in on the mass dance in the middle of the closed block…

Wow! Seriously… It’s been a year since I’ve reviewed anything? No wonder I lost my Elite status! Well then, by all means, let’s write!
UGH… What happened to the Obon Festival? This is an event that I look forward to every year and it seems like it keeps getting smaller and smaller. In addition to 5^th Street, in earlier years, the festival also occupied a couple of blocks on Jackson.
On the positive side, the important elements are still there — like the food. Come hungry because you’re going to be immediately greeted by smells of amazing culinary creations that you simply aren’t going to be able to ignore. This is much like any other festival in that, if you’re not stuffing yourself, you’re doing it wrong.
One tiny piece that didn’t go unnoticed was the addition of another beer stand on the street instead of the single stand tucked in the back corner of the food court. That was a small detail that made a huge difference. If you had been there is past years, buying a beer meant having to traverse through the crowd of hungry people in line at multiple food stands. That also meant endangering your precious elixir as you ran the risk of bumping elbows and/​or shoulders with someone on your way back out of the food court. We’ve all seen the posture — double fisted with the beers held at chin level and elbows out as if that position protects your beer from being bumped. For those reasons, the extra stand went much appreciated by many.
And being that I became a K9 daddy last year, I have since brought my little guy with me everywhere, and the Obon Festival was no exception. It seemed like every other person decided to bring their dog out there and it really did seem to add to the family and community atmosphere.
It’s a great festival, but I’m taking a couple of stars away simply from the fact that it just seems to be getting smaller and less attended. I have some friends from out of town that were visiting several years ago and I brought them to the festival. They still, to this day, talk about it. The event just didn’t seem to have the same energy that it used to.
Not that any of this matters to me though, because come next year, my friends, my dog, and I will be back eating food, drinking beer, and enjoying the people. And, as always, this year we saw old friends and made new ones.
We have a gem of a festival here, San Jose. Let’s not let it go unappreciated.

It was my first festival as a new resident in town so it was a nice reason to get out and explore what Japantown had to offer.
I appreciated the closed off street allowing for festival goers to freely walk about though it’s not a particularly large festival. The beer stand was a nice touch and compliment to the food stall offerings. I wish there were more independent vendors and interesting food stands. Sure, there was the imagawayaki but I left unimpressed. I suppose that’s what neighboring stores and restaurants are there for– adding a touch more authenticity.
I’d find my way back again come next year. My son especially loved the taiko drumming.
Note: be sure to come strapped with cash as many food stalls and even restaurants along the Main Street were ‘cash only.’

Always on the sunny side so wear Sunscreen.
Good eats such as — udon, chicken and beef skewers, shrimp tempura, Gyoza, corn, chicken teriyaki, sushi and more. They have water, soda, ice mocha, smoothies and of course BEER to help it all go down!
They have a area for kids or adults where you can play games and win prizes or alittle money.
Some arts and craft stuff and plants/​flowers you can buy.
No Bingo or pull tabs this year!
Mountain View Obon always the following weekend.

Always a great festival. The food, the temple, the taiko drums, games and dancing. I love seeing the Japanese in their beautiful, traditional dress and dance that goes back over half of a millennium. Everything is super clean and organized.
This however is nothing the event organizers has power over.
******Note to smug, ugly, grey, kinky haired, white people with bad overbites from Berkeley trying to do this Bön folk dance in your faded mom jeans, polar fleece vests and the teva sandals with socks. HINT… that’s not traditional Japanese dress or dancing… please get off the parade deck. It’s insulting, rude, disrespectful and disgusting… esp. the Grateful Dead style, anything goes acid head dancing… save this behavior for those pathetic peace parades and deadhead reunions*******Obon is NOT supposed to look like this.
********see link below*************

I’ve been coming to this festival for more than 3 years in a row now. I enjoy Japanese culture very much. Healthy, simple and beautiful. Will keep coming back.

This was my first time going to Obon Festival. I thought its going to be a big festival but its small. I don’t like how the food court have a long line and to much people standing around that I can’t even walk. They only block off the 5^th street near the Japanese Buddhist Temple to Jackson Street.
I love how people was dress in kimonos and did different dances. One point I wanted to join in and dance with them.
A cross from the food court they had some tents with games. The games was fun, but some was hard to win.

The Obon Festival is another annual festival held at San Jose Japantown that’s fun to attend. The food is a big draw: this year booths were selling udon, strawberry shortcake, sushi, manju, chicken teriyaki, beef teriyaki skewers, imagawayaki (japanese pastry with red bean inside), gyoza, tempura, corn on the cob, chicken salad, boba, and beer! (Does that make you hungry??) Bring lots of cash and a big appetite! Each booth sells one things and there are separate lines for each booth. Lines can be long, especially for the more popular items, like the imagawayaki and the chicken teriyaki, but the lines move pretty fast since all you’re really doing is telling them the quantity and handing over cash and getting change. There are lots of seating, both inside in the indoor dining area and out in the food court where they are selling a lot of the food. There are also higher tables that have no seats and require you to stand while you eat — but that totally works too. The tables have containers with chopsticks, napkins, and compostable forks (couldn’t find knives). The corn is really good.
Non-​food activities include the game area, where you can play carnival-​type games like whiffle ball toss and ring toss. The duck scoop game is cute. The beautiful Buddhist temple is open to visitors. Out on the street (5^th street between Jackson & Taylor) which is closed off to traffic, they have a stage set up. Lots of taiko performances. And there are japanese lanterns strung above the street. Each lantern has been painted differently by different individuals or families or groups, which I think is really cool. This year, I found a Totoro-​themed one that was super adorable. The main event is of course the odori dance in the evening. I wasn’t able to stay for it this year, but I’ve seen it before and it’s a great way to end the festivities — lots of people gather in the street to perform the dance, and many are dressed up in Japanese clothing.
Parking can be difficult in the area, so if you can, I recommend taking light rail to the Japantown/​Ayers stop and walking the few blocks to the festival. And while you’re in Japantown, take some time to visit some of the local businesses. There was a gigantic line outside of Shuei-​Do for people wanting shave ice (it was a nice sunny hot day) and Nijiya was packed with people picking up Japanese cookies and candies and other goodies.

Stumbled upon an awesome event on accident.
Walking back to the hotel from downtown, Monkey noticed more and more people walking in front, more cars parked along, then in the street… Whalah! A beer garden! In the middle of the street! This must be Monkey lucky day!
Suprise! It’s a fantastic Japanese festival complete with food, beer, boba, crafts, games, SJ Taiko and yes! Gimme! Gimme! Imagawayakis!!! Score! Monkey went nuts here. Low battery didn’t stop Monkey from snapping pictures and videos of San Jose Taiko. Monkey mesmerized by drums.
Couldn’t stay for the dancing, as Monkey here on business, but thank you SJOO for and wonderful afternoon. Hope to return soon and enjoy more of the community!

Observe and honor the spirits of one’s ancestors
Best to come early (before noon) to beat the July heat
Overly excited to get my imagawa yaki ($ 1.50 each)
Nice family friendly festival with taiko drums, games, food & drinks, and plants for sale

Japanese cultural day! I’ve been to the Obon Festival 3 years in a row.
Tina’s Tips and Tantrums
— Parking always sucks, go early or go home. Just kidding, but you’ll have a bit of a walk even parking in the neighborhood. Beware of parking meters
— Always blazing hot, wear sunscreen/​sunblock
— Pricy, bring cash! Cash is king.
— I wish they had more variety of foods
— Be prepared for long lines
— Great games for kids and adults; bingo, golf, pull-​tabs, etc. Friend won $ 250 with pull-​tabs. What is that? You pull the tab, haha I asked the same thing.
— Three days long, entire weekend. Great cultural dances and singing.

So fun! Well maybe not that fun but it was still worth while. The 5 dollar beer and 2 dollar sake shots did help. The food was good and the childish games set up by the scouts were very entertaining. My friend won 250 from the pull tabs!!! The teriyaki beef and the gyoza were good. I can’t see anything about the rest however. Maybe next year!

I will do my review in points to change it up a little.
— Parking is horrible so be prepared to park far into the residential area if you are not there right it opens. Whatever though, you’re probably going to eat everything and everything so a little walking can’t hurt.
— Try the chicken salad at the food court. IT WILL NOT DISAPPOINT YOU. I was full of food and practically waddling around the food court, but please get the chicken salad.
— Stuff your face with imagawayaki (waffle thing filled with sweet azuki beans)
— Ladies (or gents), if you are over-​emotional, super feelsy, or experiencing the ovulation situation– be prepared to completely lose your sh*t at the games area. ALL THE GAMES ARE RUN BY CUTE LITTLE GIRL SCOUTS/​CUB SCOUTS/​BOY SCOUTS. I was «squee-​ing» at every turn. Just please, take all my money. Just do it.

Momo E. and I always look forward to the SJ Obon festival and it has been a small tradition with my family over the years. The food offerings are the same every year in the food court with gyoza (4 for $ 5), tempura ($ 5), drinks (water $ 2, soda $ 3, milk tea, frozen bev, etc.), beef & chicken sticks, fake crab nigiri ($ 7), CA roll ($ 6), chicken salad ($ 4), corn, steamed and baked varieties of red bean manju (inside), strawberry shortcake (inside), grilled teriyaki chicken and rice (inside), and MY ALL TIME MUST HAVE favorite imagawayaki ($ 1.50 each or buy a dozen and get one free). Imagawayaki’s are basically grilled red bean pancakes that should be known as red bean rounds of GOLDEN HEAVEN. These are a very common Japanese and Taiwanese street snack the only other place I have been able to find these in the bay area is at Mitsuwa! And that is only for there limited time special and they were a completely different style. Still delicious though all around the ones here at the Obon festival are very homey and hit the spot every time. I can never just eat one and SHARING… is inconceivable. Other highlights about the Obon festival are the shows (taiko, etc.) that are on a schedule posted on the SJ Japantown website and the game area. The typical games are offered and each booth is staffed by different charity organizations. Also classic bingo games are held in the very back of the game area with prizes stacked up on the far table. Games are 1 ticket each and tickets are $ 0.50÷1 and $ ¹⁄₃ much better deal on the 3 ticket set.
One last highlight that is popular is the shaved ice from Shuei-​do the manju shop down the street. However the LINE is always insane and not worth the wait for me and Mo when we can come get it any time. Although it IS worth the wait if you are normally not in the area. The machine that they use IS A TRUE SHAVE ICE MACHINE and not that crushed ice junk that you sometimes get. Then combine that with some sticky sweet flavored syrup maybe some red bean or condensed milk and BAM heaven on a hot day. So as long as your willing to wait in the 45min+ long line do it.

This is an annual event that we love to attend. Parking can be difficult, but it is worth it. The different Taiko groups are fantastic, but I am biased for the hometown favorite: San Jose Taiko. Over the years, we have sampled everything that the booths have to offer and all the food is always tasty and hot. This year the gyoza seemed particularly good with a nice dash of chili oil.
Only regret was no shaved ice for us this year… the agonizing line never moved. We will have to head back on a regular day to get our fix.

Japantown Obon Festival (2011) has many aspects to it revolving around food, culture, and fun.
food: in the food court and the auditorium. the usual gyoza, chirashi, nigiri, baked corn, teriyaki chicken, boba drinks, chicken salad, udon, iwa –something, manju, etc were present.
*usually no bargains are had. purchases are basically donations to the buddhist church. which i don’t mind making
*food quality is acceptable. usually it’s someone’s mom or grandma who has prepped the food, not a chef during his breaktime.
culture:
–obon dance-​skipped this one, my kids used to participate in this. they really enjoyed it.
–taiko drums: groups from u.c. berketey and stanford participated. stanford obviously had the more experienced people and a more diverse «set» while performing.
fun:
–in another parking lot, «gambling» was taking place. the games of chance you see in carnivals are duplicated here. the house was the buddhist church and they kept all the bets.
all in all, a people-​watching event, seeing what a community is really about. i don’t expect to see much new food items but was intriqued to find chicken salad and boba drinks were part of japanese food/​culture.

REVIEW #500!!!
Obon Festival = SO… MUCH…FUN.
We headed out to the Obon Festival this past Saturday night. We got there at about 6pm and didn’t leave until the festival ended at 10pm! Parking was kind of a hot mess and we ended up finding a spot a good ½ mile away. It was ok though because it was a warm and beautiful night.
Food stands were great and it didn’t take too long to get our food once in line. We ended up with Teri Chicken (2 huge thighs for $ 8), Gyozas (6 for $ 4), and Tempura ($ 5). The Chicken was nicely marinated and quite juicy, too. The Gyozas were particularly tasty – great chewy gyoza skins and a yummy – kind of spicy sauce. The Tempura was average. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Beer and Sake was being sold – which we took great advantage of. Mmm, Kirin! :)
The games were SUPER FUN! Talk about low-​tech but really fun «wholesome» games… Ring Toss, Ping Pong Toss, etc. But by far, my favorite was BINGO! We played for over an hour and could have easily stayed all night! And although I didn’t win, the BF did!
This is a wonderful community event that is well attended and enjoyed. I loved the offerings of dances, drumming, and that a lot of folks wore traditional Japanese attire. So impressed!
And the cherry on top? We got free ice cream on the way out. SCORE!